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Q: Ibs Possibly , But New Symptoms Are Cause For Concern .
asked by: Angelkins on July 16th, 2007
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I'm a 20-year-old female in good health, not overweight and I do not smoke or drink.

For several months I have been experiencing symptoms that correlate very closely to IBS. Fullness or bloating, diarrhea, stomach cramps, ect. I recently changed to a fiber rich, low-fat diet, and my symptoms have lessened greatly. But now I am faced with a new set of alarming problems.

As of late, my stool has been soft, but solid, I've had a little discomfort, I've occasionally had white/creamish color mucus on the outside of the stool and small white specks in one or two of the bowel movements. Today and yesterday, I noticed normally colored red blood on the outside of the stool as well as a sack-like pouch of blood attached to one of the bowel movements. I believe it has happened in the past as well. There wasn't much blood, I had to look closely to see anything but the sack-like thing.

After some research online, I am getting nervous that I may be experience symptoms of colon cancer or polyps instead of just IBS.

I'm a little embarrassed to go to the doctor with these symptoms and the procedures that will need to be done as I have a slight fear of procedures, but I do not want to ignore these signs anymore.

I don't know if colon cancer runs in my family and I am only 20 years old.

Should I go to my doctor and have these symptoms checked out soon?
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slpjab
replied on July 19th, 2007
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Re: Ibs Possibly , But New Symptoms Are Cause For Concern .
It seems the same search of "sack-like" pouch of blood made me find you again. Any help with your symptoms? If you're wondering, I'm the one who replied to your post on "Yahoo" health.

I'm too afraid of what might happen. This is why I had come to these posts. Even though I don't have any cancer that runs in the family, I am afraid that we could be those "statistics" that make it "extremely rare" instead of non-existent.

I do have a question or two for you though, first is:

Have you been constipated at all? Especially before this happened?

Second:

Has your stool been more narrow than usual?

Lastly:

Are your cramps or feeling of bloatedness severe or dull? Mine seem to be a little painful, but tolerable at times. A dull feeling could be a symptom of colon cancer.

These are the more scary symptoms I've had that match either polyps or colon cancer. You know about the small sack-like pouch of blood. But, I've also been reading that these symptoms could mean a different bunch of things. Doesn't have to be colon cancer or polyps just because the information we found on the internet is usually vague on non-descript.

I'm sure most doctors will tell you to get checked before ever attempting to look information out on the internet. Self-diagnosis can be a "bear" I hear, but just as you, I'm a straight male and I care VERY little of a doctor shoving a long tube up my anus. Nasty thought.

Oh, as far as my health, I'm definetly no glutton. I'm trim and also very healthy. I do smoke though, so I hope that doesn't have a factor. I've also been taking Chantix to help me quit smoking for six days. Tomorrow is my quit date, so I hope that me not smoking will help out my symptoms.

I have a hard time believing; though, if you don't smoke and are of healthy stature that my smoking would be much of a factor in this scenario. I don't drink, either. I have kept up exercise until recently because of the birth of my first daughter and my confines have been with my child since the mother is working again and I watch her round the clock. Are you inactive? Spend a lot of time at computer? Or at work are you hunched over a lot? I'm sure you've read 90% of the articles I did since our searches are pretty much confined to google or yahoo.

As far as should you go see the doctor? Yes, I think you need a professionals advice. As far as me, I'm still anxiously awaiting the arrival of my grandmother who is going to be paying for anything while I wait to start work again to pick up my insurance. I'm not just saying you should go because I also wonder. But, I'm sure you went to these posts for the same reason as I: all the sites we looked at told us to go to the doctor and we both don't want a camera shoved up our butt! Razz

Anxiously awaiting your reply. Good Luck.

Ps We're both probably ok, but better safe than dead!
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slpjab
replied on July 19th, 2007
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Re: Ibs Possibly , But New Symptoms Are Cause For Concern .
In my last paragraph does it say "As far suckers"? That is a glitch in the forum and I went to "edit" and it says "As far as should". When I went back it still said "As far suckers"...wow who knows.
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Angelkins
replied on July 19th, 2007
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Well I'm glad you found me again! I didn't know you experience that same symptom, which I have got to say is the one that really freaked me out the most.

I don't believe colon cancer runs in my family but I know cancer does. And my step-fathers brother just went in for a colonoscopy and had two polyps removed but I sssooo don't want a camera shoved up my butt!!

First question:

I had to look up the real definition of constipation just to be sure. x.X Since one of the definitions is infrequent stools I would have to say yes. It's a rare week when I don't go two or three days without having any bowel movements.

Second:

Kind of. Well, yes. It's also been softer and easier to pass since before my symptoms started. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me but I'm going to take it as a good thing because a well-formed stool is supposed to be that way.

Third:

They started off very, very painful. But when I would lie down they would lessen. Now they are discomforting but no where near the painful magnitude they used to be.

The information on the internet is very very alarming. But when that RN replied to my question over at Yahoo and said that fresh, or red, blood is more a sign of hemorrhoids or something less severe than colon cancer or polyps I was a little eased.

I sometimes fine myself to be a little of a hypocandriac, especially when it comes to WebMD. I can't even remember what I was looking up but it told me one of the conditions I could have was a brain tumor. That one I didn't pay any attention to so I've sort of lost faith in the whole online self-diagnosis.

Congratulations on your daughter!

I live in a house with a smoker so even though I don't smoke, I'm still exposed to second hand smoke. And good luck with your quit plan! I know how hard it is, my mother has tried three times and just can't beat it.

Maybe we better knock a notch off my health description. I don't nearly enough exercise as I should. I work at Wal-Mart in the electronic departments so I do a good deal of running around and heavy lifting while working, but on my days off I am inactive. You see right through me, I spend a lot of time on the computer when I'm not working.

I think I am going to go to the doctor next week. I have yet to fill in parents in on the severity of my symptoms and if I had I'm sure I would have been sitting in the emergency room faster than anyone could blink. There are too many excuses I've come up with already for not going to the doctor. I'm insured under my father and he has the kind of insurance where the out of pocket expenses are up to 5,000 dollars and he was just recently diagnosed with diabetes so my poor little part time Wal-Mart job really won't do much in paying for a colonoscopy and god know what else I will have to do.

And I have a severe case of social anxiety so explaining to a doctor what my stool looks like is going to be possibly the most uncomfortable situation of my lifetime.

I've been keeping track of what I eat since the beginning of the week and what my stool looks like, yes that's been fun, so I'm hoping that will better help a doctor diagnose me.

I think that's it so far! I appreciate your reply like you wouldn't believe. It's comforting to know someone else is experiencing this and is so knowledgeable about it!
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slpjab
replied on July 19th, 2007
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Actually, I do know how you feel about finding someone who has the same symptoms. It's made me feel a lot better as far as my nerves go.

Have you read up on anything such as Coeliac's? I read on a post on yahoo a few lines down two people thought it may be that.

I'd like to ask: Where exactly is the pain you feel in your abdomen? Mine seem to be right near my hipbone on both the left and right side. Which is strange since they say that a pain in the left side could be a colon problem such as ibs or diverticulitis and the right side doesn't support that, really. That supports an inflammation of the bowel. Running loops, are we?

It is also very strange because, according to diagrams, the area between those two "pain spots" is also affected and sore. Placing my pain in the small intestine, too. My pains have not been uncontrollable to me, although, I will say, that my tolerance to pain is pretty good and things that affect you adversely might not affect me much. My fiance doesn't understand how I handle pain so well.

I just had a bm and it wasn't as much as usual, but the diameter of it seemed to be bigger than yesterday (a little) and I could see no blood in it.

I'm starting to wonder if the red specs in my bm from yesterday is actually from the beats. That still doesn't explain that sack, I'm afraid.

I'm curious to hear of exactly where you pain is as this MAY be an indication of what you have and how closely related our symptoms are.

I, too, can be sort of a hypochondriac about what is wrong with me. I also went on WebMD for a neck pain and they made it seem like I was gonna die from a tumor. Not the case. I was worried, though. I felt worse when I read that and better when I forgot about what it said.

Stress can also be a factor in sensing pain. I've proven that quite nicely myself and think people can make situations in their body worse by worrying. So, I hope I've helped to calm your nerves, at least, a little.

Today my pains haven't been extreme, but I've experienced a sort of slight burning and itching simultaneously. Have you experienced this?

Hope you're feeling ok.

Joe
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Angelkins
replied on July 19th, 2007
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I just started looking over stuff about Celiacs to rule that as a possible problem. I’m looking for a list of food that has gluten in it so I can eat it and test to see if it sets my symptoms off but so far I haven’t some up with anything yet.

When I first started experiencing the worst of my symptoms I was eating a great deal amount of pasta though so I’m wondering if that could be a sign that I have Celiacs or not.

My pain is lower. I would say about two or three inches below my belly button and in the middle. Sometimes it stretches around the sides and will happen on the back of my left side.

This pain I have zero tolerance for. Which sounds weird considering I have two tattoos. I’ve never really taken pain that well so I’m not socked. I’m sure I’m exaggerating how bad it is but then again, I don’t handle pain well.

I haven’t had any BM’s since Monday so I am a little concerned on that part as well. Though I read that it is normal for people to usually only have them three times a week and less is a sign of IBS usually. I’m sure I’m experiencing constipation now.

I’ve checked out the pain on WebMD and all it came up with was that localized pain is a sign of something more definite than generalized pain. Thanks a lot for the golden nugget of info, WebMD.

Last night I had some discomfort while I was going to bed but it passed before I fell asleep. I’m pretty sure it was pain from the constipation.

Right now I am having my usual low pains in the stomach. I’m going to test is lying down makes it fell better. As usual lying down is the golden ticket to getting the pain to lessen.

Though this time I’m not experiencing the bloating, fullness, or frequent urge to go to the bathroom symptoms I used to get. I think that is because I’m just having constipation/gas pains.

I’ve never had burning but I have has itching. And all at random, really bad times for it to happen as well.

I think we might be medical mysteries!
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slpjab
replied on July 19th, 2007
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Me Again
Today my fiance and I took our baby and our puppy pug for a walk. I wanted to see if my recent hibernative tendencies could have been a cause for my symptoms. I still have not passed a satisfactory bm yet. I'm used to one healthy bm daily. I will say that I do feel better and my pains have subsided getting a little exercise, but I still feel extremely bloated and I hear major gas rumbly in my tumbly. Razz

I have another question: Are you sensitive to lactose or more specifically cow's milk? I have been extremely sensitive to cow's milk since I was a child, but that wholesome goodness and great taste I could never give up. So, I have never regulated my milk intake. A small 8oz glass would usually do nothing but give me gas, but a full size glass or more would give me violent diarrhea. Maybe my ignorance caused this?

When I get constipated I drink a lot of milk. It helps me get out what is stuck in. I'm starting to wonder if that was a bad idea. I, too, am going to check out a low gluten diet to see if that's what it is.

I read in an article that stated a few things that could be related to Coeliac's and sensitivity to cow's milk was in the list, but I couldn't find any other correlation as it wasn't linked. I'm curious to know if you also have this sensitivity.

My pains are also in the middle about where you have yours and from what I've seen of diagrams, that would be where the small intestine is. You urinate frequently? For a male I believe I also urinate more frequent than most other males. Embarrassing to say I had a bit of a bed wetting problem when I was younger. A correlation there, too? I think these are all symptoms of Coeliac's. (don't know the early bed wetting is)I also read that most people that have it are never even diagnosed. So, maybe that's why we didn't have symptoms until now?

I can't find any other article or person that has ever experienced these small sacks of blood. This makes me think that it just has to be coming from the same thing. But, wouldn't everything we've looked up and have symptoms of describe them in some way? You may be right, darn medical mysteries.

I still have a hard time believing that it would be cancer. It may be denial, but I'm healthy and it doesn't run in my family. Plus, we're not supposed to have to worry about this until we're in our 40's.

How old is your stepbrother? What were his symptoms?

I really have noticed that my pains are feeling more like bloatedness and less like pain. How long did your pains last each episode? Mine started yesterday and went on for about 28hrs. I slept through some of it and it wasn't always bad. In fact, I wouldn't even describe it as bad. It was mostly annoying, worrying, and abnormal. I did have some brief periods where it did hurt, though.

I'll be on the computer all night. I have to watch the baby while my love rests for work. I'll check periodically to see if you have responded.

Another thing I just remember to ask. Have you had any discolored bm besides the mucus covering? I have seen this before, too. I don't remember that last time as it's been quite awhile, but I've seen it. If you have a black bm, go get help asap. I had a darker color bm yesterday, but it was green. And that means one of two things: it either came out too quick or too slow. I thought this is what they may consider a black bm, but it's not. So, if you have a green one, I don't think you should panic. I think it actually has to be black. Meaning that blood has mixed with the digestive enzymes in your colon and meaning it's been there long enough to change color meaning your upper colon is at risk. Seriously, it sounds like our small intestines hate us...*sigh*

Hope to hear from you soon.

Joe
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slpjab
replied on July 20th, 2007
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I'm More Ocd Than You!
I'm just about to go to sleep. My daughter totally has me on a midnight schedule because she won't sleep at night and that's when she wants to most attention. My fiance will be home soon and relieve me of my parental duties.

I just want you to know that I've never had such an indepth talk of bms with a woman before. Even though you are experiencing close to the same thing, I'd like to thank you for actually sticking by and discussing our disgusting experiences. Truly a site to behold. And, I may be checking back more often than you expected, but talking about this truly has calmed my nerves, at least, a little. Thank you again.

Anyways I felt a slight itch burn in my rectum yesterday. Nothing serious or even too troublesome, but it was unusual nonetheless. You experience this?

Also last night before my fiance went off to bed, I noticed that I was relieved of my pains in my abdomen. This morning they flared up again and it seemed to happen after I ate some chili, a high fiber food. As of right now, I want to see if fiber was having an adverse effect on me, so I'm eating (not to my liking) a whole can of refried beans I found in the cupboard. *sigh* It contains 84% of the fiber I need for the day, so this will either relieve me or tear me apart. If I have no reaction or pain worsens, I'm going to try a gluten free diet to see if that helps. I so hope that this relieves me, because a whole can is making me sick to my stomach. Yuck! Although, it is fat free!

How are your symptoms doing? Have a bm yet? Are you feeling ok? I hope so, you've in the last day, become my crutch for keeping my sanity. Whenever I don't vent for awhile I start thinking the worst again.

Have you read any interesting articles or have any other information to offer me?

Well, I'll be up for just a little longer to make sure the tyke is going to sleep and choke down the rest of this crap. Ugh, me and my bright ideas.
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Angelkins
replied on July 20th, 2007
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I had a five and a half hour work day today with some weird things happening. Taking my dog for a walk later in the afternoon is on the agenda. I’m going to see if working more exercise into my daily routine will help as well.

I don’t think I’ve ever been sensitive to milk or lactose. That’s a theory I sort of tested before but sort of gave up on when I started reading things about Celiac’s disease because I think I more fit that profile.

I have some questions for you!

About half an hour to an hour after having the milk so you get rumbling feelings in your stomach? I got those a few times and that is the number one symptom of a lactose intolerance.

Second, have you been experiencing weight loss since your symptoms started?

That’s the thing that baffles me the most because I haven’t lost a pound since my symptoms started. That’s one thing that makes me feel better about the whole cancer thing, one of the signs of colon cancer is dramatic weight loss but I haven’t seen that. I’ve had these symptoms for I want to say over six months and no weight loss.

How long have you been experiencing your symptoms?

I just downed a huge glass of milk to see if in a half an hour I start to feel rumbly have pain.

Isn’t the problem with Celiac’s with the small intestine not absorbing the gluten and getting all ripped up? That would be a valuable clue right there.

This website was helpful for me. Did you know you can ever get gluten in your system from licking a stamp or an envelope?! This site says that!




It also has a lot of other digestive related disease and symptoms that might help pinpoint our problems. Has your pain always been dull or have you experienced severe pain?

I do have to urinate frequently, it’s very inconvenient. Especially nowadays that movies don’t hit under the two hour mark anymore. And when I am having a flare up of symptoms I will go to the bathroom but it will feel like I can never get my bladder empty and like I have to urinate more even though I don’t have to.

I’ve looked and looked and looked and nothing seems to even mention a sack of blood attached to a stool. It just blows my mind that no one has written about it or experienced it. That in itself is kind of alarming.

My stepfather’s brother was in his 50’s, possibly even his 60’s. All I heard of the story was that he had blood on his stool for three days and then went into the doctor, scheduled a colonoscopy and had two polyps removed.

Two nights ago they would come in little waves. It would be a dull ache that would last for like a minute-two minutes and then go away. Then another one would come back. Last night I had gas and pressure pains that didn’t last long either, I was able to sleep through them fine.

I am still feeling the constipation pains as I have yet to have any bowel movements. Now I am starting to get concerned about that. I’m hoping that glass of milk is gonna help me out here. Otherwise I am going to pick up some laxatives tomorrow if I still haven’t had any.

Thankfully I have never had any strange colored BMs. Besides the seriously gross and noticeable mucus that I had on that one occasion. Since my symptoms have started, I’ve noticed the color of the stool getting lighter, they started out normal brown and have gone to a light brown.

Which I just looked up and normal stools are brown to light brown, so not much cause for concern there.

I can’t remember where I read it, but in an article I read that blood on the outside of the stool isn’t necessarily bad. Most information about colon cancer scared people into thinking they have colon cancer because they have blood IN there stool, which is why it turns black.

So I’m seriously starting to rule out colon cancer.

Oh man. You are a brave, brave man! I wouldn’t touch those re-fried beans if my life depended on it. I’m trying to have more and more fiber into my diet as well but its not going to well. Most fiber-filled foods are nasty. But you know what they say, fiber makes you regular and I need to be regular because I seem to be having a pooping problem!

I did it! I finally said poop!

I’ve been trying everything to keep my mind off whatever it is that is ailing us, but the fact that I haven’t had a bowel movement in going on four days is really making that difficult. I never actually though I would want to have one just so I could make sure it doesn’t have blood or something on it. I’ll rest a lot easier after I have some I think.

Other than that, I’m still hunting around the net for some scraps of info. You’ll be the first to know if I find something!
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slpjab
replied on July 20th, 2007
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What sort of things happened at work? Exercise helped me feel better temporarily. I'm hoping it's going to be help, for the both of us. So far though, it's only been temporarily.

There's a Celiac's and Coeliac. I had the two mixed up thinking they were the same thing. Milk intolerance is possible related to Coeliac, I believe.

Yes. After I drink milk I get strong rumbling in my stomach. I guessing severity of the rumbling depends on sensitivity.

No. Just like you I have not lost any wait whatsoever. It's made me feel better, too, but just because you don't have a certain symptom doesn't mean you can rule it out. Although a little more reassuring.

Well, not very long. I do remember when I was younger, probably in late high school years or so, I found one of those sack things and discarded the event altogether. I do remember, I think, that it was passed during a constipation bout. Recently, it's been about a month and a half.

Question: Do you have visible bloating in your abdomen? I have absolutely no fat around my pelvic area and from the side it should look completely flat. I looked in the mirror this morning and the pelvic region looked like it was bulging out about a centimeter or so.

My pain was actually pretty bad this morning. I wouldn't consider that pain dull. Do you experience relief when you just lie down? Or when you sleep? Because for me, lying down only helps for a little bit, but when I wake up after sleep I can feel no pain. Until I get up and move around, that is.

From what I read, yes. That would be Celiac's, and it could be Coeliac.

Wow, no. Never had a clue that licking a stamp or envelope could beat someone up. Well, except for the taste.

I've experienced those same problems. Not often do I feel like I still have to go, but it sure has happened. Has it ever hurt you to go pee?

Same here. I've done many extensive searches and no one but you and I have seemed to ever even heard of it. That is alarming. Or it may not be.
How many people actually pay attention to their poop? There, I said it too.

Ok. First, I'm sorry. I meant stepfather's brother. Second, nowhere near our ages. Hmm.

I've also experienced waves, but lately the waves have been more of relief than a wave of pain. Last night I had pains that would go from dull, to painful, to dull, to relief. Have you ever experienced this?

I still have some laxatives here. In fact, if I don't poop soon, I'm going to take a stool softener to see if that helps. Constipation can be a scary while being uncomfortable. I, too, wanna see if I'm bleeding yet.

Good thing you've never had any strange colored bm's. Mine have been a little green here and there, but what I did pass yesterday was brown. A light brown, and not very big at all.

I don't think we have hemorrhoids though. I didn't see much correlation between abdominal pain and those. For abdominal pain all I see is ibs which we no longer fit because of possible blood. So, we need to look more deeply at the other things.

The information you've read is a little reassuring, people thinking that they have colon cancer but don't. Ya, the poop will turn black because of bleeding that is either in the mouth, esophagus, stomach, or the very start of the colon. This happens to be where some of my pain originates, so when I'm able to get a bm I can check to see if it's black.

Colon cancer grows out and I don't see and haven't read that you can have symptoms of mine that have come and gone. About a month and a half ago I was constipated. I could feel the gas go through my spot of pain that I'm experiencing now. I don't know if that's a bad sign or not, but where I felt pressure then (no pain, just was uncomfortable) I feel pain now. I just don't see how I can go from being constipated, I cured that, and my stools went back to normal completely. About 5 times the size they are now. Maybe even more. And all of a sudden they are small again? Too me just doesn't seem to correlate with cancer. I would figure once you have the symptoms of cancer, they must stay. Since symptoms of cancer usually only come with a more advanced form. I hope to hell I poop normally soon...that would be great ease of mind.

Yes, they do say fiber makes you regular. And yes, the beans were horrible. But when you gotta poop you gotta poop.

It is very hard to keep my mind off what is ailing us, too. Without having a bm and the pain which is new to me makes it very hard to just forget about it. Me too, I'd feel much better after I poop.

I haven't felt much fatigue, have you? I'm with baby all night so fiance can rest and then I watch the baby when she goes to work and I'll sleep maybe 5 hours at most lately and I still feel pretty good, as far as energy level is concerned. They say a symptom of cancer is chronic fatigue. Everyone is fatigued now and again, but from what I understand it should be constant.

If I find anything interesting or important you will also be the first to know.

Good research though.

Hear from you soon.
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slpjab
replied on July 20th, 2007
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Oops
I was misinformed. Coeliac is Celiac's go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliac_disea se

There is information, not much, but there is a little with correlation to lactose intolerability.
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Angelkins
replied on July 20th, 2007
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I did some bending, lifting, lots of walking. But sometimes I would get a sharp pain on my left side in the front and back, which made me paranoid about the colon cancer bit you said about the life side. Then I started thinking that I might have appendicitis and I was going to get really sick at work and have to go to the emergency room.

Oh, the paranoia.

This Coeliac is Celiac's disease stuff is really starting to confuse me. I wish the information on the internet was more concrete. But unfortunately, the body is a medical mystery and there is no formula to this symptom this symptom = that problem or that disease.

You really might have lactose intolerance.

Did you have any dairy last night?

These are the symptoms of lactose intolerance:

• Bloating.
• Pain or cramps.
• Gurgling or rumbling sounds in your belly.
• Gas.
• Loose stools or diarrhea.
• Throwing up.
Do you experience mostly just constipation or diarrhea as well?

Mine does the same thing as well. I lie down, the pain goes away. I go to sleep and wake up with not pain. Once I get up and start moving and bending, I start to get uncomfortable and almost like I invite the pain to come.

I just took my dog for a good walk and I now I can feel my light gas coming back. I’m thinking of going back out and walking a few more laps myself to see if exercise could be my golden ticket to passing some bowel movements. I would be so happy.

I don’t think I have any bloating. Like the poor afflicted women of this species, I carry a little extra body fat around the tummy. It looks flat from the front, but from a side view you can see I got a little extra going on there.

Is you bloated area tender? Give it a little, gentle push. My lower abdomen where my pain has been and my small intestine is is a little bit tender to the touch.

For lunch I had ramen noodles which have wheat in them, so I’m assuming they have gluten in them, but since eating them I haven’t felt any symptoms. I don’t know how long it takes your body to digest but I would think the ramen would have been digested already.

That’s okay about the stepfathers brother, it’s not really that big a deal so don’t worry about it. I know, that is why I am a little skeptical to go in. Most people only have to go in for colonoscopies after 50 and we still have a long way to go! I know as soon as we go into the doctor, they will want to do a colonoscopy.

Well said. I never used to pay attention to my poop and I wouldn’t have even noticed the red blood on the outside of my stool had it not been for the blood sack. When I saw that, I had to take a closer look. That and the time I had mucus on the outside of my stool, that was truly freaky.

I’ve sort of had that. Lately I haven’t had painful ones. They are dull, dull, discomforting, dull, and then go away pretty much.

Ugh, I would give anything for a laxative right now. All I have is pepto bismo and the only thing closely related that that stuff is good for is diarrhea. I’m almost wishing I had that right now instead of constipation.

Did you have blood on toilet paper or in the toilet bowel as well?

I was just reading about hemorrhoids and it is common to have blood on toilet paper and in the toilet bowel with them. I don’t have either of those.

Oh my god I don’t even want it to be hemorrhoids either.

“Your doctor may only examine your rectum with a gloved finger (digital rectal exam). Or your doctor may use a short, lighted scope to look at the rectum (anoscopy)”

THAT sounds like as much fun as a colonoscopy!

The itching and burning may be a sign of hemorrhoids though. That is the only thing I have found to explain the itching/burning since it doesn’t relate to the IBS or Celiac’s disease.

I’ve never had burning while peeing, thankfully. Is that something you’ve gotten?

I agree about the reoccurring symptoms. I can’t honestly say that I am affected by bad pain or these symptoms every since day. I’d like to think if it was cancer I would have dropped weight by now and be hit with the symptoms a lot more frequently and regularly than I have.

I’m rarely ever fatigued. If I am, it’s just because I am feeling lazy. Or I am riding in a car. Car rides make me so tired its unbelievable.

It’s still under thought, but I might take the day off of work tomorrow to see if I can’t flush the system out. I don’t really want to be at work when my body finally does decide it would like to pass some bowel movements. And I have this terrible fear that 4 days worth of stool isn’t going to take a few minutes to pass. That would be fun to try and explain to my coworkers where I was.
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slpjab
replied on July 21st, 2007
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First of all, I wanna say that I just had a bm!! It was normal size and consistency again and there were no signs of blood in it. None on the tp and none on the bowl. I still have slight cramp sensations, although my bloating feeling is gone.

The pain on the left side to the back is what I had just felt before I had to go poop. Hopefully you've had one or will have one soon. (poop)

Appendicitis is on the right side and it'll be excrutiating pain. Don't think you should worry about that.

Exactly. One site will make me think I have Coeliac or Celiac or whatever they wish to call it, then the next will tell me I don't. I, too, wish this information was more concrete as it's sending us both in loops!

I've actually always thought I was lactose intolerant. Maybe my not staying away from lactose caused a bacterial infection? I always have dairy! haha

I've never gotten constipated from milk, only diarrhea. Sometimes violent.

We have so many of the same symptoms and just a few that are different.
Maybe your immune system isn't in top notch? I'm almost wondering if we have either something going on with bacteria, or possibly irregularity of the bowel?

Exercise seemed to help, as did the nasty refried beans I ate. Ugh, the memory. I'm not certain either of these had an impact, but I'm going to make sure I ingest fiber, at least for the moment, and get good exercise. I don't know if you're going to want to switch back to fiber, but I for sure would recommend the exercise. We can only pray it is our golden ticket, as you call it. Very Happy

Yeah, you would figure the ramens would be broken down almost instantly given their consistency. I'm glad to hear your symptoms didn't flare from it, but you still need to poop.

Since my bm, I seem to be feeling at least 75% better. Which is very relieving since I felt horrible this morning before ingesting that crud. I spend a lot of time at this computer, especially since Jolee was born, and I spend a lot of time hunching over. Possibly I pinched something with my pelvis? You do this too? In fact, the last time I remember having the blood sack thing I think I was putzing around on the computer quite a bit, as it's been one of my hobbies. I remember sitting up was more comforting. Maybe we could try to make sure our colons have room to squeeze it out. Might possibly be why we feel better and like movements are possible when we move around. Should try it.

That day all the blood I saw was in that sack. I saw what I thought to be blood on my poop and the tp, but I truly believe it was from beats the night before. I ate a whole can, so I guarantee that's probably the reason. Other than the sack, no blood at all. I had a little blood on my poop when I was constipated a month and a half ago, but I'm actually 100% certain that it was from the evacuation. The blood was sparse, a spec or two on the poop and more from wiping. Meaning during evac it made a fissure.

None of those tests sound appealing, but whether or not my symptoms get better, when my grandma is back from Peru, I'm going in regardless. I'd suggest you do the same.

Rarely. It seems to burn a little when I stress to have a bm.

How often do your symptoms flare? This is the first time I've had bloating and this kind of pain. This is so I can get an idea.

Yeah, car rides. Minds drift and weariness follows.
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slpjab
replied on July 21st, 2007
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i found a site may or may not help http://www.itzarion.com/pain-symptoms-char t.html
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sillyakchick
replied on July 24th, 2007
Extremely eHealthy
Hello. I am a celiac, so any questions you have about it I would be happy to answer. Gluten is found in wheat, rye, oats and barley, so anything containing those ingredients has gluten in it. You actually have to go really out of your way to avoid-it is in everything. The way to be tested for Celiac disease is to have an upper endoscopy performed. Also some lab tests can help provide the physician with information.

Lactose intolerance goes hand-in-hand with celiac disease because the damage done to the small intestine occurs in the area where lactase is produced (the villi in the small intestine). These are flattened and blunted when a celiac ingests gluten. It triggers an auto immune reponse and your white blood cells are "misinformed" by your body which mistakes them for invading organisms. They attack in the small intestine, and the villi become "casualties of war" so to speak. Feel free to pm me with specific questions-there are a lot of helpful websites. Continue to post here as well. It is very confusing and difficult to understand at times.


*Edited to add: PLease see the sticky under "celiac disease" for more information
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slpjab
replied on July 31st, 2007
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Lactose Intolerance And Celiac
That kind of sets it in stone for me about being a celiac. I have looked over the internet incessantly about what I could have. Now, I understand that self-diagnosis is nothing compared to a diagnosis from a personal physician, so my intention has never been to replace actually going and seeing a doctor, but to inform myself of whether or not I actually have something serious.

According to what I've found and what a few people have told me, I do indeed have Celiac. I took your advice visited that site, and come payday I will be ordering the at-home "poop test" for the $369.

Right now I'm in the middle of acquiring insurance and this test is by far the most sensible choice as far as affordability goes. Plus, I live in a small rural area that doesn't have the more sophisticated technology and information, so I'd also like to see a specialist.

I'm a little uncomfortable about going in and having a doctor probe me, so it's a relief to at least get some information before I actually go in.

I do have a few questions for you, though:

1. How/when did you first start noticing symptoms and what were they like?

2. Would they come and go regardless of what you ate or was it determined by what you ate?

3. I've noticed lately that eating a lot of gluten gives me moderate pain and makes me extremely irritable. It also hurts sometimes when I don't think that I've eaten gluten and sometimes it doesn't hurt when I'm pretty sure I've eaten gluten. Is this normal?

4. I don't hurt at all if I don't feel constipated. Normal?

5. There's a few pinpoint places that I feel bloating, pain, or constipation. It's in my lower abdomen starting about 2-3 inches from both the left and right side of my hipbone and stretches together in between. Typical?

Also, I've noticed that when I do have pain or bloating it is in the spots that I felt bubbling or gurgling when I drank too much milk. That makes me think that the Celiac, if I do have it, started because of my lack of regard for not drinking milk when I realized I was lactose intolerant.

Now knowing that I could have a serious condition, I've made up my mind to go in and see a physician, but all the info that you are willing to give me would be much appreciated.

I'm going to start a gluten-free diet before I even see the doctor just to make sure I don't damage my little villi even more. I've read that it could take up to 2 years for my intestine to heal. Will it take that long for me to have normal bm's again on a daily basis?

Thanks

Joe
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sillyakchick
replied on July 31st, 2007
Extremely eHealthy
Re: Lactose Intolerance And Celiac
slpjab wrote:


I do have a few questions for you, though:

1. How/when did you first start noticing symptoms and what were they like?


I noticed off an on symptoms from late elementary school on. Ther ewere periods of time in my life where I vividly remember haivng terrible tummy issues, but it wasn't until I was diagnosed did it all make sense to me. The periods of time when my problem was most active was during periods of stress or extreme changes, such as puberty, my parent's divorce, my wedding, and after having surgery and then children. I remember vague stomach discomfort and bloating for periods of time as a child. As an adult my symptoms got worse and I ended up being unable to eat due to the horrible nausea and cramping. I lost a ton of weight and was about 97 pounds when I finally got diagnosed.

slpjab wrote:
2. Would they come and go regardless of what you ate or was it determined by what you ate?


It was what I ate. The problem is that wheat is in soooo many things that we just never think about.

slpjab wrote:
3. I've noticed lately that eating a lot of gluten gives me moderate pain and makes me extremely irritable. It also hurts sometimes when I don't think that I've eaten gluten and sometimes it doesn't hurt when I'm pretty sure I've eaten gluten. Is this normal?


The one thing I have discovered about Celiac is that although there is a set of "normal" symptoms and reactions for Celiacs, there are equally as many oppisite symptoms of celiac disease. It is a very inconsisitent thing. Eating Gluten will also cause me lower abdominal pain and bloating, unsightly bowels, and I get quite irritable as well. "Brain Fog" is what I refer to it as. Also, I think the prevalence of hidden glutens in our processed food diet makes it quite difficult for us to really know what is in our food.

slpjab wrote:
4. I don't hurt at all if I don't feel constipated. Normal?


Again, see rule #2-nothing is really normal. I don't really know if that would be considered normal or not.

slpjab wrote:
5. There's a few pinpoint places that I feel bloating, pain, or constipation. It's in my lower abdomen starting about 2-3 inches from both the left and right side of my hipbone and stretches together in between. Typical?


That did seem to be my pain distributions as well. It was always in the lower abdomen. For me it was a cramping pain.

slpjab wrote:
Also, I've noticed that when I do have pain or bloating it is in the spots that I felt bubbling or gurgling when I drank too much milk. That makes me think that the Celiac, if I do have it, started because of my lack of regard for not drinking milk when I realized I was lactose intolerant.


Ususally Lactose INtolerance among Celiacs is a symptom of the celiac disease, not the other way around. It is the damage done through the autoimmune response that triggers our inability to ingest lactose for the period of time when we are ill. ONce the damage begins to reverse and heal, you might very well regain the abiliyt to consume dairy again.

slpjab wrote:
Now knowing that I could have a serious condition, I've made up my mind to go in and see a physician, but all the info that you are willing to give me would be much appreciated.

I'm going to start a gluten-free diet before I even see the doctor just to make sure I don't damage my little villi even more. I've read that it could take up to 2 years for my intestine to heal. Will it take that long for me to have normal bm's again on a daily basis?


IF you are going to seek a medical opinion for this, I do not reccommend you going on a gluten free diet until after the testing is completed. When you stop eating gluten containing foods the lab results from your blood and any endoscopy which could be performed would be innaccurate, as the results of such tests are positive only when the patient is currently consuming gluten.


I hope you found this information helpful, and let me know how things are going.
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slpjab
replied on August 2nd, 2007
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Re: Lactose Intolerance And Celiac
You've really been a great help and I'd like to thank you. I've been extremely confused and stressed out about what has been going on with me.

I actually decided to start my gluten-free diet. I know that I have to eat gluten prior to testing to be able to test if I have the gluten in my blood/stool, but I've got insurance I still have to straighten out before I go in to get my physicians advice. That's why I am getting the home stool test when I get paid, because it is the most economical thing for me.

I've gone the whole day consuming only what I knew for certain did not contain gluten and it's the first time in like two weeks that I haven't had that annoying pain in my lower abdomen. I'm almost certain now that Celiac is indeed what I have and will continue to monitor/post my progress. I figured if after a week of gluten-free food and my symptoms get even better, I will test it by eating gluten-containing food. If I hurt, then I will know for certain.

Not yesterday, but the day before I ate a pb&j on butterwheat bread and had moderate irritation, so I can correlate my symptoms with Celiac.

What concerns me, though, is that if I've had it since I was a kid (I've had lactose intolerance since then) I might have really damaged myself and find myself wondering why I didn't have more profuse symptoms earlier.

My bm's are sort of returning to normal, I'm still a bit constipated and despite feeling the bloatedness from that I feel no pain. Which makes me feel better because I'm starting to feel like I have some closure coming closer to knowing what I have.

Again, thank you. Your time has been greatly valued and appreciated.

Joe
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